Silent to Sound

Geoff Brown, Honorary Associate Research Fellow at De Montfort University (Leicester), has written widely on British film history in books and scholarly journals, as well as working for the London Times as film critic and classical music critic. Books with contributions include Enchanted by Cinema, Ealing Revisited, and Directors in British and Irish Cinema. The present book draws on extensive research undertaken for the project 'British Silent Cinema and the Transition to Sound, 1927–1933', financed by Britain's Arts and Humanities Research Council.

"It is a wonderfully lively and thorough and engaging account of such a crucial period."—Charles Barr - Film Scholar"A very fine piece of work, with great in-depth research. Also, it is written in an accessible and entertaining style, not academese! I learned a lot from this."—Stephen Bottomore - Film Scholar"You present film history as something exciting ...You leave me dying to read your book"—Kevin Brownlow - Film Scholar

• Introduction1. The British Sound Pioneers: 1878-19272. Breaking the Sound Barrier: 1927-19283. Viewing the Baby: First Steps Towards Sound Features4. 100% TALKIE! 100% ENTERTAINMENT! The Sound Elements of Blackmail5. Not Visiting Elstree: Gaumont's High Treason and the Summer of 19296. Flagship Hits Iceberg: BIP and the Making of Atlantic7. Marvellous, My Boy, Marvellous! British and Dominions Talkie Surge8. I'm in Harmony Heaven: Fire, Fraud, and the Creation of the British Film Musical9. Nothing to Do with Cinema: Galsworthy, Sherriff, O'Casey, and the Lure of the Distinguished Play10. Dead as the Wooden Battleship: The Fate of British Silent Features (1928-1932)11. East, West, Home's Best: British Talkies and the World Market12. Full Supporting Program: Epiloge Rule Britannia?BibliographyIndex